The large crane was lifted back into the hold and made fast to the plane. When Lieutenant Crummit signalled he was ready, Andy opened the trap door and dropped the plane through. The army flyer switched on his inertia starter, the warm motor caught the first time over and the propeller went into its dazzling whirl.
Lieutenant Crummit threw up his left arm as a signal for the release and the big crane relinquished its grip on the pursuit ship. The army plane dropped down and away from the Goliath, then climbed and raced wildly around the mother ship. The Goliath had passed another one of its exacting tests successfully and Andy returned to the main control room and relieved Serge, who had taken his place during his absence in the hold.
Instead of heading back for Bellevue, the Goliath swung north and Andy looked inquiringly at his father, who had just returned from a conference with the army men.
“We’re going to give Cincinnati a treat,” said the vice president of the National Airways. “We can make the trip up there and be back home before dark.”
With Lieutenant Crummit’s plane and another army craft as escorts, the Goliath roared northward at a hundred miles an hour, knifing its silver hull through the lazy, fleecy clouds.
The Ohio river, heavy-burdened with a spring flood, rolled ahead of them and just beyond was the haze which hung over Cincinnati. It was a surprise visit but the townspeople were not long in hurrying into the streets to glimpse the king of the air. They wheeled and turned over Cincinnati for a half hour before heading back for Bellevue.
Bert, who had left his radio room, leaned out a window and looked down at the swollen Ohio.
“There’s plenty of water rolling down to the Gulf,” he told Andy, “and from all reports the Ohio isn’t the only river on a rampage. Almost every large tributary of the Mississippi is at flood stage, which means plenty of trouble for people living down in the lower river country. It will take several days for the flood waters to get there, but when they do the country is going to forget about the Goliath and think about the flood.”
“You’re a cheerful sort of a soul,” smiled Andy.
“Just mark my words,” insisted Bert. “I predict a big flood on the lower portions of the Mississippi.”